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ChristopherJam
Registered: Aug 2004
Posts: 1378 |
Event id #2655 : 8K Intro Competition 2017
Inspired in part by Didi's past intro creation competitions (many thankings for those!),
have a four week lightning competition to help you survive the holiday season
- single file one part intro (fade in/out acceptable)
- has a logo+changing text+music
- file size of at most 8192 bytes, including load address (so, 8190 bytes of data).
- no more than 5 seconds decrunch/precalculation time.
- once page is running, exits within 5 seconds of pressing space (should be obviously fading out)
- don't trash any RAM from $2800 to $cfff inclusive (unless you restore it on exit).
- entries uploaded to csdb as runnable .prg, optionally embedded in .d64,
- max three per participant, withdrawals allowed, older entries will be displaced if you've too many.
- competition start: 8th December
- entry deadline: 5th of January, 14:00 (2pm) UTC
- voting deadline: 12th of January, 14:00 (2pm) UTC
- entries will be ranked by CSDb rating, including private votes.
- entries with the same weighted average will be ranked by their percentages of 10s, 9s, etc.
No prizes, just fame :)
Thankings to Jeanette, Krill, Groepaz, and various ICC2016 commenters for helping me to crystallise plans.
Any errors in judgement all my own - I've ignored a lot of good advice :D
Questions and discussion below. |
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ChristopherJam
Registered: Aug 2004
Posts: 1378 |
Quote: So can we use $d000-$fff9 for generated speedcode or gfx buffers? (Accessed from $0801-$27ff)
Yes! |
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TheRyk
Registered: Mar 2009
Posts: 2070 |
Wonderful! 8k is inally a halfway decent limit! \o/ |
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Didi
Registered: Nov 2011
Posts: 479 |
Have fun with it. Maybe better not to have the same rules every year. :) |
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TheRyk
Registered: Mar 2009
Posts: 2070 |
Didi, don't be sulky, compete :) |
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Compyx
Registered: Jan 2005
Posts: 631 |
8KB is very decent limit, big enough for some half-decent graphics, a decent tune and some code that should rise above the simple swinging logo + 1x1 scroller. |
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Hein
Registered: Apr 2004
Posts: 933 |
Quote:- don't trash any RAM from $2800 to $cfff inclusive (unless you restore it on exit).
This means in runtime? Usually depackers fill the holes ($2800-$cfff in this case) with zeros. I've been trying the Exomizer level option (which should leave the non-used memory untouched when depacking $0400-$27ff and $d000-$ffff), but can't get the depacker source to work, yet. It'd save some time if I can just use the sfx option. Then you can pretend there's game bytes at $2800-$cfff. :) |
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ChristopherJam
Registered: Aug 2004
Posts: 1378 |
Quoting HeinThis means in runtime?
Yes. I was assuming game gets depacked from that area after the intro exits, possibly getting moved down to $0801-$b000 first depending on the packer requirements.
Quote: Usually depackers fill the holes ($2800-$cfff in this case) with zeros.
Interesting. Perhaps I should be louder about nucrunch offering a stream containing multiple disjoint areas... Or is that what the Exomizer level option is?
Quote:Â…Then you can pretend there's game bytes at $2800-$cfff. :)
I'd prefer to leave the rule as it stands; while I considered adding a specific payload, I didn't want any of the entries taking advantage of whatever the contents were (which would in turn have tied those entries to only being able to intro that particular file). |
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Hein
Registered: Apr 2004
Posts: 933 |
Exomizer level option should indeed leave the non-packed areas untouched when depacking.
So my question is still open: Would it be allowed to just pack the whole memory with Exomizer or Pucrunch, even if after depacking the area $2800-$cfff is filled with zeros (which in a real life scenario would be the packed game anyway) and those zeros are left untouched when the intro is running?
If not allowed, still fine, it just shifts my focus a bit towards a field I'm not so much interested in. And there's hardly any gain or loss concerning the 8kb restriction, so it feels a bit of a waste of effort to me. In the end I might know about packers and depackers, tho. Good for picking up girls. :) |
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chatGPZ
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 11113 |
i told you that you should just supply a file that has to be linked :=) allowing what Hein is proposing is watering the intend of the rules IMHO - since it might no more work when the gap isnt just zeros (ie it may result in a file > 202 blocks) |
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Trasher
Registered: Sep 2009
Posts: 8 |
Hi,
great idea! Let's see if I manage to participate..
Being an old cracker I don't quite understand the idea of the rules though. The limit of 8k makes sense to some degree, but not the really the rest (like the $d000 limit). Here's my point of view of different crack intros, some different types and ways of using them:
1. packed game, crunched intro+game
- game is packed (RLE packed) and placed behind the unpacked intro. Packed game must fit after the unpacked intro, eg. from $2800-$ffff. The intro runs and when done (space) most often relocates the packed game to $0801 and launches the unpacker.
- the whole blob, unpacked intro+packed game, is crunched.
- The resulting file must fit between $0801-$d000 to be able to be loaded by a standard kernal loader (201 blocks).
2. packed and crunched game, completely unpacked intro (since it is so small)
- in this case we don't care about packing the intro at all, it is just so small that it doesn't make a difference.
- the end result of unpacked intro+packed and crunched game must fit $0801-$d000 same as in #1
I guess there are variants of the above, that even I have used when required.. Feel free to add and comment.
IMHO the most simple rule is that when the intro exits, a certain area after has to be just as it was before the intro started. Say the area $2800-$ffff (I think most of my entries had about that size, maybe up-to $3000 sometimes). That would allow for relocating stuff if somebody for whatever reason wants a bitmap at $4000. Maybe the start of that untouchable region should be increased to allow for some more fancy stuff, that's a matter of discussion.
To have the crunched size as a limit doesn't make much sense to me.. Though that could be listed/seen as part of the compo - shorter crunched intro is definately better if you wanna get high up in the gamers guide charts! ;) so I would give such an intro higher points.
Just a quick point of view from a cracker.. There are probably others.
Cheers,
Trasher |
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